Net assessment: Creating an institutional capacity and general process to perform it

Abstract

Net assessment is the epistemological and holistic comparison between two or more systems of interest to determine their net differences and identify the risk and opportunity factors that allow the interested parties to take advantage of their own capacities. This research shows, however, that there is no established framework to create an institutional capacity to perform net assessment, or even a step-by-step explanation of how to perform it. The author establishes a theoretical framework to create an institutional capacity that generates understandable strategic knowledge by comparing internal systems with those of an external agent relevant to national security, and proposes a method to create an institutional capacity to perform net assessment. In six steps, he defines how this capability has to be created at the individual, organizational, and environmental levels, and reviews the previous assessments that must be made to establish a solid starting point. He also suggests twelve aspects that must be considered to develop net assessment products. Finally, he proposes three different schemes for integrating net assessment capacity into government organizations, public institutions, and private companies.